In January, 2016, an Amish man who was living in Summer Shade, Ky., confessed to Kentucky officers that he had killed his wife while living in Bethany, Mo., in late 2006.
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Samuel Borntreger, 39, told authorities in Barren County, Ky., that he put antifreeze in liquid vitamins that his wife was taking and battery acid in her rectum before her death, while the couple was living in the Amish community northwest of Bethany. At the time her death was attributed to natural causes, thought to be liver disease.
Borntreger and his wife, Anna Yoder Borntreger, had four children together, the youngest just 10 months old when she died at the age of 26. He was a respected cabinet maker in the Bethany area and served as a minister in his Amish church. He moved to Kentucky in 2014.
Borntreger was extradited from Kentucky to Harrison County where he was charged with first degree murder. He plead not guilty to that charge on May 31.
However, in a plea agreement with the prosecutor, Borntreger plead guilty June 21 to an amended charge of murder in the second degree. First degree murder carries a penalty of up to life imprisonment. Second degree murder carries a penalty of between 10 years and life, which is considered 30 years. He would have to serve 85% of his sentence, due to the nature of the crime.
He has been held in the Harrison County jail since Jan. 20 on $250,000 bond.
Borntreger remarried within a year of his wife’s death and is the father of 11 children ranging in age from 1 to 15.
The sentencing hearing will be held at 3 p.m. on Aug. 8. Circuit Judge Terry Alan Tschannen of the 9th Judicial Circuit was appointed by the Supreme Court to preside in the case.